Susan Rice kicks off U.N. series

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will argue in a major address Friday evening that the nation should “strengthen” — not “starve” — the world body.

The address is the first in a series of speeches — to continue this spring — making the case to the American people for why the U.N. matters to national security, and detailing how it is being improved. The ambassador will be speaking to the World Affairs Council of Oregon in Portland.

Story Continued Below

“The U.N. provides a real return on our tax dollars by bringing 192 countries together to share the cost of providing stability, vital aid and hope in the world’s most broken places,” Rice said in prepared remarks.

“Because of the U.N., the world doesn’t look to America to solve every problem alone. … We’re far better off working to strengthen the U.N. than trying to starve it — and then having to choose between filling the void ourselves, or leaving real threats untended.”